Male or Female?

My personal approach to the discipline of art history has been shaped by the multitude of texts that I have encountered throughout my educational journey. In regards to gender studies, I can instantly recall two influential texts: Women, Art, and Society by Whitney Chadwick and Women, Art, and Power and Other Essays by Linda Nochlin. In their books, both Chadwick and Nochlin expose and explore the shortcomings of the western art historical canon. More specifically, Chadwick deconstructs gender stereotypes that are associated with artistry, while Nochlin poses and answers the question: “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”

In an attempt to prompt discussion on gender studies, I have turned the display case outside the main entrance of the Samek Gallery into a fun little game. There are five numerically labeled works inside the case and I am asking our readership to let us know – by commenting on this post – whether or not they believe the artist of each work to be male or female, and why.

To assist in determining the gender of each artist, here are some questions for thought: do you believe the gender of an artist can be conveyed through the composition of his or her works, have the stereotypes men produce masculine works of art and women produce feminine works of art become obsolete, and finally, do things like subject composition, color, line, style, etc.… shape whether we perceive the gender of an artist as male or female?

In three weeks, I will reveal the title, date, and artist of each work on the blog. This is supposed to be fun, sooooo of course we are giving out prizes, which can be picked up at the Samek Gallery!